Goes Without Saying
by LemonStar
Summary: ..Mark/Lexie.. AU. Picks up after episode 5x18, "Stand By Me". Now that Mark and Lexie's relationship is no longer a secret, everyone at Seattle Grace seems to have their opinions and no one, unfortunately, wants to keep quiet about it.
1. Chapter 1

**Goes Without Saying **by Lemonstar

_..Mark/Lexie.. AU. Picks up after episode 5x18, "Stand By Me". Now that everyone at Seattle Grace knows of Mark and Lexie's relationship, everyone seems to have their opinions and no one wants to keep quiet about it._

**..XX..**

* * *

"**Damn** it!" Lexie Grey hissed as quietly as she could after her toe came in contact with one of the legs of the coffee table.

She glanced over at the bed to make sure that she hadn't woken him before falling down onto the couch, rubbing her injury and looking around the hotel room, searching for her other shoe. She thought she had taken it off near the door the night before but somehow, it had disappeared and she couldn't find it anywhere.

She had to get out of there soon if she didn't want to be late to the hospital. Her rounds that morning started at six o'clock and he didn't have anything scheduled until ten with a tympanic membrane repair surgery, which she hoped to have the time to watch from the gallery.

Lexie loved watching Mark Sloan during any of his surgeries even if she wasn't able to scrub in. Every incision, every stitch Mark did was meticulous and absolutely perfect. He moved with an easy, natural confidence that oozed out of every pore and she wished she could say the same thing about herself.

When Mark entered a room, everyone paid attention while Lexie got the feeling that she could scream in the middle of the crowded hospital lobby and still have no one hear her.

Well, actually that might not have been true anymore. Someone would hear her. More specifically, _he_ would. He always heard her. Even when she wasn't saying anything, he still knew exactly where her mind was going.

It was an incredible talent and one that she didn't know how he had developed already considering they had only been together for a month. She hated that he already knew her so well and she was stuck still trying to scale just the first brick wall that he had surrounding himself.

"It's underneath the chair," his voice – deep and smooth and causing delicious goose bumps to flesh across her skin – informed her, still nestled comfortably in the bed.

Lexie remained on the couch and leaned back slightly, craning her neck to the side and seeing her missing boot underneath the chair. She sat up again and looked towards the bed.

"How do you do that?" She asked.

"Do what?"

"Always know what I want even if I don't say it?"

He didn't answer immediately and she saw him shift underneath the covers before slowly sitting up. He let out a yawn as he rubbed the ball of his hand in his eye, slowly waking himself up though neither had gotten much sleep the night before. After his successful face transplant surgery, they had returned to the Archfield where they had picked up from where Lexie had left off after kissing him in front of her annoying, gossiping fellow interns.

Needless to say, it had been an extremely pleasurable, but exhausting, night.

"You can never find your shoes in the morning," he explained while biting back another yawn. "I guess I'm just getting used to your routines."

His answer made Lexie smile widely and the pain instantly faded in her toe.

"Want breakfast?" He asked, already reaching for the phone on the nightstand table next to the bed to order room service.

"I can't. I'm going to be late," she said, slipping off of the couch onto the floor.

She reached underneath the chair and grabbed her boot, tugging it on and zipping it up before standing up again. She tucked strands of her dark hair behind her ears and began collecting his clothes from off the floor where she had ripped them from his body and threw them aside in a sexual frenzy.

It had been such an incredible night. _He_ was incredible but it was back to work now though it was going to be drastically different today than it had been yesterday.

Yesterday, people only had a small inkling that something was happening between the plastic surgeon/sex god Mark Sloan and the young intern known as Little Grey. The fight between Mark and Derek started the rumors and when Mark openly began being nice to her when being nice to interns was something he could never be accused of doing, it only added more fuel to the gossip fire.

Lexie had wanted their relationship to be out in the open instead of being kept hidden within the four walls of his hotel room like some dirty, forbidden secret, but she was already sick and tired of hearing the whispers of the other interns following her wherever she went.

So she did the only logical thing.

She grabbed Mark and kissed him right there in the open, in front of anyone who wanted to see.

He had been shocked but she could tell that he was also already incredibly aroused by her take-charge attitude as he stared at her. When she had walked away, she had felt his molten eyes on her and how all he wanted to do was pull her into the nearest on-call room but after the penis incident, they no longer had their quickie trysts in the hospital – something which made Lexie grateful and yet drove her crazy at the same time.

Short, rushed lovemaking in a call room with anyone listening on the other side of the door – though it was hot and naughty – wasn't what Lexie wanted when she was with Mark. His sex techniques were like his surgeon skills. He liked to be meticulous and take his time, kissing and touching every square inch of her body and he could only do that while they were in his bed at the Archfield, able to take their time with one another.

"You gotta eat," Mark said. "I need you to keep up your strength."

Lexie rolled her eyes and he grinned.

"Is that all you think about?" She asked.

"You know it is."

"And here I was, thinking I was dating such a romantic."

He glanced at the red glowing numbers of the digital clock. "You still have a half hour. You can eat."

"I don't want to be late," Lexie explained, grabbing her coat from where he had tossed it onto the back of the couch the night before. "I don't want to walk into the locker room last and have every single intern staring at me because they will be staring at me enough today as it is and I don't want to make the situation even worse than it already is going to be."

"So kissing me made this suddenly turn into a bad situation?" He asked with a frown.

"No," she instantly denied with a shake of her head. "I _will_ be kissing you the instant I get another chance to no matter who's around but I hate people talking about me. I mean, Megan is pregnant and you and me are still going to be the only thing everyone will be talking about today."

"Who's Megan?"

"An intern." When he stared at her blankly, she almost smiled. "Tall, red-head. Wears glasses. I think she was on your rotation for a week."

Mark took another minute to think about it but then shook his head. "I have no idea who that is. What kind of idiot gets pregnant while still an intern? Doesn't she have enough on her plate?"

"You shouldn't call her an idiot. Things happen. If I was pregnant, would you call me an idiot?" She asked him.

She had spoken without thinking as she sometimes tended to do and Mark had now gone completely still at her words, staring at her, deer-in-the-headlights style, panic seeping into those steel cobalt eyes of his.

"Not that I am pregnant," she quickly scrambled. "Because I'm not. I am so not pregnant. You wear condoms and I take my birth control religiously. I am not pregnant. I promise."

He was still staring at her but his face was no completely blank – no expression whatsoever – and she couldn't tell what he was thinking anymore.

She went to the side of the bed and bending down, pressed her lips to his in a quick kiss. "Will you eat lunch with me today?" She asked.

Mark smirked, which relaxed her entire body upon seeing it.

"Starting the "Sleep with me, Lunch with me" rule again?" He asked.

He slipped his hand to the back of her neck, pulling her in for another kiss.

"No sense in hiding anymore," she murmured against his lips.

"I have that surgery today," he said. "We can eat after that." She nodded and he kissed her again. "Want to scrub in on it with me?"

_Yes_, she almost answered but instead, she shook her head. "I better not. I scrubbed in with you yesterday. The interns already think you're playing favorites if you pick me two days in a row."

"I am picking favorites. Interns are idiots," he said, his voice growing lower, raspier, and she knew from the sound of it that he was no longer hungry for breakfast.

"I'm an intern," she reminded him as if he forgot.

"You're _my_ intern."

It amazed Lexie just how distracted he could make her just from a few spoken words. But that was exactly what he did to her. He could say one thing and all other thoughts flew from her mind.

He kissed her and she slipped her hands around his shoulders, the short grey hairs on the back of his neck sliding through her fingers. He pulled her closer to him and then maneuvered her body until she was laying down on her back and he was above her, his lips barely leaving hers.

"Mark," Lexie gasped breathlessly, arching her back off of the bed as he latched his lips to the pulse point on her throat.

She was going to be late for rounds. She should push him away and leave as quickly as she could before this escalated more than it already had. She couldn't be late.

Everyone now knew that she had left the hospital the night before with Mark and everyone would assume that their relationship was a sexual one – which was, in fact, putting it lightly considering just how much sex they actually had together. But just because they knew these things, Lexie didn't want to be the center of the gossip mill.

Despite telling herself all of this though, she clung to him and didn't stop him as he kissed her and began peeling her clothes from her body, tossing them carelessly away. She knew that she would have to search for them yet again when they were done.

"You're going to get me in trouble," she whispered breathlessly, her chest panting from his kisses and her body tingling, knowing that there was still much more to come.

He smirked, pushing himself up on his knees and leaning over to retrieve a condom from the box on the nightstand next to the phone.

"Want me to stop so you can go?" He asked.

"I will kill you if you stop."

"I didn't know my girlfriend was so violent."

She smiled upon hearing him say that word and she put her hands on his cheeks, grabbing his head and pulling him down for a hard kiss on the mouth.

And the instant Mark slid into her body, every other thought except him and what they were doing, flew from Lexie's mind.

Being the center of the gossip that day at the hospital suddenly didn't seem all that important to her.

**..XX..**

* * *

**She **quickly changed her mind though. Sadie was the only one of the interns to not stare at her and then immediately start whispering. She had been assigned to Dr. Hunt that day but as much as she tried to ignore it, it was growing increasingly hard.

"You _know_ it will never last," one intern whispered to another as Lexie and Sadie passed them on the way to the cafeteria to grab a quick bite of lunch. "He didn't get the reputation he did at this hospital by sticking with one woman."

"Woman?" The other one laughed softly. "She's a girl."

Lexie tried to roll her eyes and not have it bother her but she couldn't seem to.

Sadie sighed. "I've decided that I hate people."

"Says a person who wants to become a doctor," Lexie replied, a hint of a smile finally pulling at the corners of her mouth.

"I didn't say I hated patients. I said I hate people," Sadie clarified and Lexie laughed.

"Again. Says a person who wants to become a doctor. Patients are people last time I checked."

"Fine," Sadie sighed again, pretending to be exasperated though she was wearing a bright smile. "I've decided that I hate _interns_. Except you and me. We're the best."

The cafeteria was crowded and Lexie and Sadie went to stand in one of the lines snaking throughout the room. Lexie's eyes immediately started to scan the people, trying to spot Mark but she didn't see him. The board had said that he was out of surgery but maybe he was with the patient or he had gone back to his office.

"You must tell me one thing though and then I promise that I will never bring it up again," Sadie said and Lexie looked at her, waiting. "Is he as amazing in bed as he seems like he would be?" She asked in a low voice so no one could overhear.

Lexie felt her cheeks flush a bright red but she was unable to keep that wide smile from off her face as she took her time answering. She looked straight ahead, trying to see what the cafeteria was offering that day for lunch, and she felt Sadie staring at her, her eyes narrowing with each passing minute.

She laughed slightly. "Better than amazing," Lexie finally answered.

Sadie burst into a smile too. "I knew it! I mean, just _look_ at him. He is the perfect male specimen."

"Not that you ever will but you should see him naked," Lexie laughed.

"You better be talking about me," Mark said, suddenly appearing behind them, slipping into the line and cutting in front of a group of other interns.

Lexie turned her head and looked up at him, her heart instantly thumping madly in her chest. He was wearing his dark blue scrubs sans white lab coat and just looking at him, she began fantasizing about how long it would take her to get him out of those scrubs so she could feast on the body she was just boasting about.

"Actually, we weren't," Lexie said with a nonchalant shrug, sending a quick smile to Sadie before looking back up at him. "We were talking about Dr. O'Malley."

Mark's eyes narrowed at her. "Not. Funny. Not at all," he said.

She couldn't help but laugh though she tried to stop herself when he clenched his jaw, the muscles twitching in his face.

She made good on her words that she had said earlier in the hotel room. Not caring who was around or what else people would say about it, Lexie pushed herself up on her toes and threw her arms around his neck. His eyes widened in surprise for just a split second before she pressed her lips to his, kissing him. He wound his arms around her waist and she was amazed that he would participate in public displays of affection like this.

"Please don't turn into one of those sickeningly cute couples," Sadie pleaded, almost groaning though there was amusement heard in her tone. "Especially when I'm moments away from eating."

Lexie slowly separated her lips from his and smiled as her eyes instantly locked with his. His face didn't show how pleased he was but his eyes did.

"How was your surgery?" She asked, feeling out of breath.

"What surgery?" Mark asked. "I can't remember."

He kept his arms wrapped around her, her body pressed tightly to his.

"I think we should get lunch to go today," he suggested, his voice husky and it sent shivers down her spine. "I can show you my office."

"I've already seen your office, Dr. Sloan, " Lexie said, pretending that she wasn't following his innuendo.

"Have you seen the couch in my office?" He asked and she laughed. "Because it is a really comfortable couch."

"I bet," she nodded. "What about the "Sleep with me, Lunch with me" rule you promised we would do today?"

Mark smirked and then brushed his lips across her cheek until they were right over her ear. "The only thing I want to eat right now is you."

She didn't have to say anything to that. Through the scrubs she wore, he could feel her body temperature instantly spike and without another word needing to be exchanged, he grabbed her hand and tugged her out of the line.

"What about lunch?" Lexie finally managed to find her voice as he led her from the cafeteria towards the elevator. "And everyone is going to know what we're doing."

"It's not the first time someone's gotten lucky on their lunch at this hospital," he answered, his body tight with his want, his need for her.

"Gotten lucky?" She echoed. "Is that what you're going to be getting?"

"I'm not even going to look at you right now," he informed her, his thumb permanently attached to the _up_ arrow button on the wall, wishing it would make the elevator arrive faster. "If I look at you, I'll do things to you right now that, trust me, you do not want anyone seeing."

"I thought we weren't going to be having sex in the hospital anymore," she teased, extremely entertained at seeing how hard he was trying to control himself.

"We're taking the stairs."

He grasped her hand and she laughed as he pulled her through the door leading to the stairwell.

"I think you want me," she said, following him up the stairs to the upper floor where his office was located.

He hoped he didn't run into anyone. The erection in his scrub pants was becoming painfully obvious – painful in more ways than one.

"I _always_ want you, Lex," he said, now practically growling. "Stop forgetting that."

**..XX..**

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading and please review. **

**This is going to be an alternate universe. More to come… **


	2. Chapter 2

**..XX..**

**Mark **tried to keep the _I just got laid in my office by my hot girlfriend_ expression off of his face as he strode down the hallway, flipping through David Young's chart and glaring at the interns who looked at him for too long. He hated interns – especially ones who insisted on talking about things that they didn't know the first thing about.

He hated that Lexie was letting the stupid gossiping amongst all of them get to her. He could have cared less but because it was bothering her, it was starting to get on his nerves too.

People needed to start learning to mind their own damn business. This was a hospital, not a high school.

David was sitting up in his bed, his face once again wrapped completely in bandages and gauze, and watching the television hanging from the ceiling. The room was a bright burst of orchids of every size and color that his friends had brought for him and Mark couldn't help but think of Lexie's words from the night before after she had kissed him.

_They think that we_'_re ugly, but I know that we_'_re beautiful._

"How are you doing today, Dave?" Mark asked, taking a pen from the front pocket of his white lab coat and clicking on it.

He grabbed the wheeled stool from the corner and pulled it next to the bed, sitting down, as David muted the television with the controller in his hand.

"Sore. Hurts to talk still," David answered, his voice slightly mumbled as he was still getting used to speaking with his new lips. "But I guess that's to be expected, right?"

Mark smiled slightly. "Took the words right out of my mouth. You're getting to know me too well."

"You tell me the same things over and over. My hearing wasn't the thing that was damaged," he said and Mark knew that the young man was smiling behind his bandages. David's eyes flickered towards the door before at Mark again. "Is Dr. Grey not coming?"

Mark was surprised at the question but his face revealed nothing as he scribbled a few notes down in the chart. "Dr. Grey is on a different service today."

David nodded before looking back at Mark. "She's the first woman in a long time who was able to look me in the eye when she talked to me. Or was even able to look at me. But I guess she is a professional…"

Mark clicked the pen again and returned it to his front pocket before standing up again. "Lean forward for me just a little," he said, sliding the chart onto the tray table next to the bed.

He began slowly and carefully unwrapping the bandages from around David's head, revealing inch by inch of the new face he had given him.

Yesterday had been such an incredible rush for him and he still couldn't believe that it had been as successful as it had been. It was such a rare procedure and Mark had prepared for it for years, spending endless hours researching and honing his skills. Both he and David Young were going to be in medical journals someday for this.

"You two look good together," David said.

The air was cold on his skin now exposed and he moved his jaw open and closed, testing it out. It felt tight and swollen but it still felt good.

"Dr. Grey is an intern," Mark said, wondering why he was explaining Lexie at all.

David's face was still swollen – even more than it had been yesterday – but that was also to be expected. So far, everything looked good.

"When people stare at you, they don't really look at you," David spoke. "And with no one ever looking at you, you get in the habit of watching everyone else around you."

Mark was inspecting his face carefully, looking for any signs of irritation or beginnings of infections. He was deep in his work and yet, he was listening to every word that was being said.

Was it really that obvious to even the patients that he and Lexie were together? He wasn't sure if he liked that or not.

"You were standing closer to her than I think most doctors would stand with interns," David explained.

Mark turned his head to the side slightly to see how the skin was forming and taking to the jaw line but David continued.

"And I saw the way she kept looking at you all yesterday. She's one of those people who wears everything on her sleeve, isn't she?"

Mark didn't answer even though that was exactly the kind of person Lexie was.

"Dr. Sloan?"

He turned his head and saw an intern with dark skin and her black hair pulled back in a ponytail standing in the doorway. She seemed nervous to be near him and he made certain that his glare sharpened on her. He recognized her as one of the interns who Lexie spent time with but he also knew that she had been one of the interns in the gallery during the face transplant surgery, mocking him and Lexie.

"What?" Mark snapped and almost smirked in satisfaction upon seeing the girl flinch.

"Dr… Dr. Yang assigned me to your, um, your service today," the intern stuttered.

Mark didn't say anything. He simply turned back to Dave and began wrapping the bandages around his head again. "I'll come and see you again in a couple of hours. Do you want to ask me anything or need anything in the meantime?"

"Can you have Dr. Grey come if she has time?" Dave asked. "I know she's probably really busy and won't have time but I want to thank her for everything she said to me yesterday."

"I think I can do that," Mark agreed with a smile.

Still ignoring the intern, he left the room but could feel her trailing behind him. The last thing he wanted to do was deal with any of the idiot interns that day.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. There was one intern he wouldn't mind spending his day with but after having sex with her in his office, Lexie had rushed back to continue her rounds with Dr. Hunt and knowing her, she would probably stay away for the rest of the day.

"Stop following me," Mark growled.

"Dr. Sloan?" The intern said, hurrying to keep up with his long strides.

"Go back to Dr. Yang. I don't need an intern. I don't like interns."

"That's not what I've seen," the intern said before she could stop herself.

She gasped when she realized that she had spoken the words out loud and that Mark had heard. He came to an abrupt halt and spun to face her, his arms crossed over his chest, his jaw clenched so tightly, she could see the muscles twitch in his face. His already cold blue eyes turned steel and she actually took a step back away from him, the anger seething off of him in waves.

This is why he hated interns. Nosy and stupid tater-tot eating little kids who couldn't mind their own business.

"Get away from me," he practically snarled before turning and storming through the door that led onto the stairwell.

His body was tense, tight, and his hands were clenched into fists as he walked.

He couldn't understand why people were having such a problem with him and Lexie being together. Was it because of who he had been in the past and what he had done? That wasn't fair to either of them. When did the people at Seattle Grace decide to be judge and jury instead of doctors and nurses who should mind their own business?

So Mark Sloan and Lexie Grey were dating.

Mark really could not see the big deal. They were happy. If everyone was so obsessed with watching their every move, couldn't they see how happy they were together? He wasn't taken advantage of her and she wasn't using him. Like Lexie had said, they were beautiful and Mark didn't want these self-absorbed people to ruin this for him.

He knew that Lexie was his shot at fixing everything in his life, including himself. He needed her. It was a terrifying thought to have but god, he needed her.

He understood why they had to go public. They _were_ in a relationship and Lexie didn't want to be his dirty little secret anymore. He got that. And he was happy that she was happy – even if the interns talking about them did bother her more than she cared to admit.

But this – the whole no one minding their own business situation – was really pissing him off. Everyone knew everyone else's business and Mark didn't want the same to be said for him and Lexie.

"Dr. Grey," he said.

Standing at the nurses station, chewing on the tip of her pen as she tried to decipher the scribble of Dr. Hunt's charts, Lexie spun around instantly upon hearing his voice.

"Dr. Sloan," she greeted with a smile that made Mark feel as if he had just been punched in the stomach.

No one had ever smiled at him like Lexie did. She made him feel like he had just told her that he hung the stars in the sky just for her.

Mark almost smiled in return but he saw two interns from the corner of his eye standing nearby, watching them carefully, and his body tensed even more.

"David Young would like to see you."

Lexie's smile brightened and her eyes widened in surprise. "Really? He wants to see _me_?"

"He asked for you specifically. He wants to thank you."

"Why would he ever want to thank me?" Lexie asked with a slight shake of her head. "_You're _the one who gave him a new face. Not me."

He couldn't help but smirk, his hands in the front pockets of his white lab coat.

He didn't understand how Derek could do this every day. Work with Meredith day in and day out and not drag her into the nearest closet or on-call room every five minutes. Less than a forty-five minutes had passed since he had last been inside of her and already, he couldn't wait until they could both be home again.

Home.

His hotel room at the Archfield could hardly be considered a home. He had lived there for nearly two years, either sleeping, changing clothes, or screwing random women in the bed.

But Lexie, she made him feel like it was theirs to share. That it was even something in the first place to share.

Her toothbrush was in the bathroom, on the sink next to his. Her shampoo and body wash bottles were in the shower as well. They sat on the couch together, eating dinners through room service or takeout and watching whatever the hotel movie channels were offering that month.

And they didn't always have sex at night – which was something Mark had never done before except with Addison. When he and Lexie were lying in bed, sometimes, they just fell asleep, his chest pressed to her back and his arms wrapped tightly around her or her head on his shoulder with her arm and leg flung over his body like another blanket.

He would never admit this to her and he could barely admit it to himself but he had a hell of time falling asleep when she wasn't with him.

"What do you want for dinner tonight?" Mark asked suddenly, even surprising himself.

Lexie smiled. "Something bad for me."

He smirked and nodded his head in agreement.

"You have another surgery later this afternoon," she informed him and his smirk turned into a smile.

He liked that she kept track of his schedule like that.

"And my rounds end at six tonight so I can just meet you back at the hotel," she suggested. "Make sure that dinner is fattening and very low in nutritional value."

"That good of a day, huh?"

"Well, this morning was fantastic. Lunch was superb. _This_ right here is lovely. But other than that… not so good."

"I can get you ice cream, too," he said.

A few nights ago, after a particularly wild bout of sex that left both of them sweating and gasping for air, Mark had called room service. Both naked on the bed, Mark reclining back on one elbow as he traced circular patterns around her knees, Lexie sighed contently as she ate a bowl of peppermint ice cream. She informed him that ice cream – especially peppermint – was her favorite and if she ever had a bad day, it sometimes could be the only cure.

"Peppermint, right?"

Lexie's smile beamed widely. "And that's just one of the reasons why I love you."

Realizing what she had just said, her mouth snapped shut and her eyes widened. Mark stared at her, his face falling completely blank just like it had that morning when she slipped and started babbling about pregnancy.

Now, she had told him that she loved him – something she hadn't planned on telling him just then – and as she expected, he wasn't having any type of reaction whatsoever. She knew that she shouldn't have just blurted it out. She knew that with Mark, she would have to ease him into the idea of this relationship blossoming into love but she hadn't meant to ambush and surprise him like that.

"I… uh, I have to go and get Dr. Hunt these charts because I know that he is probably looking for them. And for me. I am his intern for the day and I need to get back to learning because he's my teacher." Lexie slowly edged away from the nurses station, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "Not that he's my teacher like _you're_ my teacher but he is my attending and I really need to go and find him."

Lexie looked at him for one more short moment before she popped a quick kiss on his cheek and then turned and hurried off down the hallway, leaving him standing there in the middle of the hallway, still in complete shock.

**..XX..**

* * *

"**Stupid**, Lexie. So stupid," Lexie muttered to herself, slapping the charts that she was holding against her forehead.

She couldn't believe that she had just told Mark Sloane that she loved him.

She _did_ love him but she knew that neither were ready to talk about that just yet. They had just taken their relationship public. It was too soon to be talking about love.

Closing her eyes, she rested against the nearest wall, wondering if she should even go back to the hotel that night after she was finished with rounds. She could go back to Meredith's attic though staying with her half-sister was actually the last thing Lexie wanted to do.

Meredith had been one to glare at her the day before when Mark had said that Lexie would be assisting him in the OR and not her. Lexie had heard the whispers amongst the interns and she had seen the look that Meredith had given George. She thought just what the rest of them did.

Lexie was sleeping with Mark and that was the only reason Mark let her scrub in with him.

It couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that she had studied and done her research so she knew the answers to the questions being asked despite sleeping with the attending.

And Lexie could not believe that Meredith was judging her when her own sexual escapades with Derek had been Seattle Grace's bread and butter in the gossip mill for years.

Before Mark, no one noticed her. They met her but they never remembered her. They didn't give her a second thought even if she was one of the most promising interns amongst the newest batch to arrive at the hospital. Everyone was so caught up in their own lives and drama that it wasn't until Mark saw her that everyone else began to as well.

Mark had always known that she was smart. Ever since suggesting that an ENT was needed in Derek's case, he knew.

And now that he was showing everyone else just how smart she was, all anyone could see was that yet another intern sleeping with an attending.

But though she may have been smart when it came to medicine, she was an idiot when it came to having a relationship with Mark Sloan.

With a soft groan, she slammed the charts against her forehead again. She could not believe that she had just said the "L" word to him. His reaction had been what she had expected. Stoic and still with no response whatsoever. Actually, he was probably still standing there at the nurses station, unable to move.

Lexie hoped silently to herself that she hadn't just messed things up with him by blurting out her feelings for him like that. Mark was like a wounded animal when it came to things like this.

She had to tread softly and lightly – not stampede like a herd of buffalo.

"Three?"

Lexie winced and she reluctantly pulled the charts away from her face. Opening her eyes, she saw Cristina and Owen standing in front of her, looking at her – Owen with a hint of amusement in his eyes and Cristina with just plain confusion. Cristina was usually confused when it came to the interns and what they were doing.

"I assigned you to Dr. Hunt today. What are you doing?" Cristina's frown deepened.

Lexie pushed herself off of the wall and straightened her shoulders, plastering a smile on her face that Mark would be the only one to know just how truly fake it was.

"Just resting."

Cristina kept staring at her intently before shaking her head. "Stop being weird," she ordered before continuing on down the hallway.

Lexie sighed softly to herself and then obediently handed Dr. Hunt his charts before following him in the other direction to go and check on their patients for the day.

Mark was right. She really needed a bowl of peppermint ice cream.

She just hoped that he would still want to be the one to get it for her despite her feelings for him that seemed to be terrifying them both.

**..XX..**

* * *

**A/N: Thank you very much to ewhitney, LoVet, Jess23Scott, Skolli, Santicela, Sunflower5513, lostie21, twitterpatted, Maiqu, Gaialy, Shanynde, Caitlinlaurie, and AmyInJapan for taking the time to review the first chapter.**

**I know this story isn't the best but thank you for taking the time to read and please let me know what you think of it. More to come soon. Thank you again! **


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